Disclaimer: This is edited MTL. Do forgive any grammar mistakes as they are my own and not the author’s. I may add some of my own words for clarity sake, but I will try not to change the meaning of the whole sentence. When the author uses 成语 / Cheng Yu, which is something like idiom-like phrases, I may just translate them in simple English if they are not very meaningful. Otherwise, I will add a translation note. An example would be ‘不三不四’, I would most likely translate it as ‘dubious’ depending on the context.

Thank you Clear for editing

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“What! He left?”

Yan Ke originally wanted to pull Meng You out for a chat. But despite finishing a battle last night, why did he suddenly storm to the frontline again today?

Is that guy a spinning top? From morning to night, does he not need a break?

The steward nodded: “The Lord left the palace only when dawn was breaking. He even went into your room to check on you before leaving for the frontline, Crown Princess.”

Yan Ke: “……” 

Yan Ke clung to the last strand of hope: “Did he leave anything for me?”

Steward: “Ah……There wasn’t anything special. This morning, the Lord Crown Prince actually wanted to wake you up to prepare a meal for him. But it might be that he saw the Crown Princess was in deep sleep that he decided to forgo the plan.”

Yan Ke coldly humphed. His temper at being woken up was really too big, luckily Meng You had good foresight.

Steward: “The weather is getting colder and colder these days.”

Yan Ke puzzledly nodded his head at the sudden switch of subject: “Yes, it is already autumn.”

Steward: “Food left outside for a day won’t turn bad.”

Yan Ke: “That’s correct, but it’s enough for the kitchen staff to cook only one person’s meal.”

Steward: “Food travelling from the Crown Prince Manor to the frontier won’t turn bad, right?”

Yan Ke: “Based on the current weather, it definitely won’t. It didn’t turn bad the last time either……” 

When Yan Ke finally understood, all sorts of feelings welled up in his heart. He looked at the smiley-eyed old steward, no wonder this person kept beating around the bush.

So he actually wanted him to make a meal for Meng You. 

Steward: “What sort of ingredients does the Crown Princess need me to buy?”

Steward saw that Yan Ke understood his meaning, and smiled as he prepared to go out to buy the ingredients.

Yan Ke: “I won’t do it.”

The steward nodded understandingly: “Crown Princess, your body hasn’t completely recovered yet, so your health is more important. The Lord Crown Prince took your bridesmaids to the palace last night to wash away your crimes. The Crown Prince also made preparations and ordered us servants to take good care of you.”

Alright.

Yan Ke looked at the old steward who was proficient in the art of speaking. Everything he said and didn’t say since the beginning all pointed at how much Meng You cares about him. 

[T/N: You can skip this translation note if the subtext in the steward’s words was clear, but here’s an interpretation of the unspoken words.

The steward nodded: “The Lord left the palace only when dawn was breaking. He even went into your room to check on you before leaving for the frontline, Crown Princess.

• Meng You had stayed in the Palace from night till dawn (to redress your crimes), but he still thought about checking on you even through his lack of sleep. He’s showing care and concern for you, Crown Princess.

Steward: “Ah……There wasn’t anything special. This morning, the Lord Crown Prince actually wanted to wake you up to prepare a meal for him. But it might be that he saw the Crown Princess was in deep sleep that he decided to forgo the plan.”

• Meng You prioritised your rest over his wants.

Steward: “What sort of ingredients does the Crown Princess need me to buy?”

• I assume that you are willing to cook since Meng You helped you out so much, and I’m willing to help you to buy the ingredients.

The steward nodded understandingly: “Crown Princess, your body hasn’t completely recovered yet, so your health is more important. The Lord Crown Prince took your bridesmaids to the palace last night to wash away your crimes. The Crown Prince also made preparations and ordered us servants to take good care of you.”

• Crown Princess, I understand if your health is too weak but please consider that the Crown Prince stayed up last night and travelled to the palace to wash away your crimes and also before leaving, he even thought about your future well-being.]

Yan Ke surrendered: “Go ahead and make the necessary preparations. Whatever Meng You likes to eat, you can buy those ingredients.”

The steward smiled: “Great!”

After Yan Ke finished his breakfast, he went to prepare Meng You’s meals. He looked at the already washed ingredients and his eyes narrowed slightly. 

You don’t want to divorce? Lao Zi will fucking make you think of the divorce with every bite you take!

Yan Ke worked alone in the kitchen for a long time without the involvement of anyone else, and he finally placed the finished meals into boxes. After everything was packed, he smiled and patted them contentedly.  

My precious, carry my intentions and go to the Lord Crown Prince.

The old steward took the packed boxes of food from Yan Ke and placed them in the hands of a messenger. At the same time, when Yan Ke wasn’t paying attention, he took the chance to secretly stuff a letter into the messenger’s hands.

He whispered: “Pass this to my family’s Lord Crown Prince.”

Yan Ke took out a chair, laid in the courtyard and basked in the sun. His fingers suddenly wriggled. His eyes that were closed in enjoyment, opened.

Yan Ke entered the room, took out a brush and paper, and placed it on the table.

: The body is yours, I don’t want it anymore.

Yan Ke: “……”

After this simple sentence, the original owner didn’t respond anymore. Yan Ke moved his hand, he thought pensively, was he serious?

Why did he suddenly tell him this?

Thinking about last night when Su Yu was arrested, he wondered if his heart was broken over that bastard, Su Yu?

“Crown Princess.”

When Yan Ke heard Tang Qi’s voice, he crumpled the paper, threw it into a paper basket and opened the door.

Tang Qi saw that Yan Ke’s complexion had gotten better, with some guilt and a hint of coaxing, he said: “Crown Princess, let’s go play!”

Yan Ke was unenthusiastic: “I won’t go, I don’t want to drink alcohol and even if we went to a brothel, there will be no flowers within 5 meteres around me, what else can we play.”

[T/N: Remember in Chapter 6, people in the past don’t have much entertainment. So the 2 most common places of entertainment are inns for drinking and brothels for escorts.青楼 / Qing Lou is literally a brothel but the people are more like escorts/hostesses as opposed to prostitutes as their job is to entertain, it is often by sex but sometimes it may be by painting, singing or playing instruments. Flowers refer to girls, so Yan Ke means that the escorts there will all avoid him anyway.]

“Let’s get a boat and travel around!”

Yan Ke: “Not going.”

Tang Qi felt complex: “Then what do you want to do?”

“I want to play mahjong, and pass some idle time, this place is too boring.”

Tang Qi: “What is mahjong?” 

Yan Ke waved his hands dismissively: “You wouldn’t know it.”

People are like this, the more they are told that they wouldn’t know about something, the more curious would they become. Tang Qi was caught by Yan Ke with this bait, and he anxiously wanted to drag out the answer of what exactly mahjong was  from Yan Ke’s mouth.

Yan Ke was pestered by Tang Qi for a long time, to the point that he became annoyed by it. He finally had to give in and started to explain by drawing with a brush and paper. 

“Four people, a table, a set of mahjong tiles, and then it can be played.”

“Tell me what it looks like, I will go buy it!” Towards new things, people will always be filled with curiosity.

Yan Ke shook his head: “It can’t be bought.”

“Then I will get someone to make it.”

Yan Ke paused: “Make it? Will they be able to make it?” 

“Yes! Definitely able to!” 

Yan Ke nodded his head “Then I will draw it out for you, get someone to make one tile first, if I say it’s okay, then the rest can be made in the same fashion.”

“Sure!” Tang Qi took the paper and went to find a smith.

His confident behaviour made Yan Ke raise his expectations a little. After all, instead of just waiting blankly for Meng You to return home, it would be better to find some entertainment for himself.

The next day, after Tang Qi was done with the imperial court meeting, he immediately showed the finished product to Yan Ke.

Yan Ke took it in his hand and his eyes lighted up: “Yes, yes! This is very similar to the original, in fact, it looks just like it!”

“Draw the rest of the tiles for me.”

“Sure sure.” 

The two stayed in the room for most of the day. When it was time to eat, Tang Qi took his lunch in the manor and then carried the drawings to the smith to get the rest of the tiles made.

——

On Meng You’s side, he received the boxes of food delivered by the messenger at lunch. As soon as he got his hands on them, the lieutenant generals who were in the midst of discussion next to him suddenly stopped talking, and stared at him tongue-tied.

Meng You lost his smile, he spoke as he opened the box: “Together, we……”

Can eat the food……

[T/N: The sentence structure is better as “We can…….” eat together, but the key point is that “Together” was spoken out.]

The last few words weren’t said out loud. When he saw that every single dish was meticulously engraved with the word “divorce”, he instinctively covered the box.

Meng You pretended to be calm as he backtracked: “Not giving, this is the Lord’s.”

Crowd of lieutenant generals: “……”

In the end, Meng You really took all of the food back to his own general’s tent and ate everything himself.

He ate as he read the letter.

: My Lord, all of this was a token of the Crown Princess’s feelings, don’t let him down.

Meng You threw the letter away, and looked at the potato with the word “divorce” carved into it. With one chopstick, he stabbed it, then he treated the potato as Yan Ke and stuffed it in his mouth.

It was really a meal that expressed his heart extremely clearly!

His anxious intentions of divorce could be seen through the potatoes, buns and carrots.

When Yan Ke received the reply from Meng You, Tang Qi had just delivered a whole mahjong set over.

When Yan Ke saw the letter, his waist bent over in laughter. He wiped away the tears left from laughing too hard, and stuffed the letter into his robes.

“Are there more people coming? If there are, I can teach you guys to play.”

Tang Qi clapped his hands, Liu Kang and Shangguan Yang smiled as they entered, then followed the rites of etiquette required and bowed to Yan Ke.

Yan Ke: “Don’t need to be so polite, come, I will teach you guys how to play.”

Yan Ke rubbed his chin, and excitedly looking at them sitting down like lambs for slaughter, the corner of his mouth slightly lifted.

One was a highly ranked imperial guard, another was the son of the capital’s richest man, and another was the son of the prime minister, everyone of them was rich!

[T/N: Mahjong is actually a gambling game.]

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Author has something to say:

Hhhhhh Congratulations to the Crown Princess for opening a new road to wealth!

[T/N: Hhhhhh is hahahahaha]

Thank you little angels for nurturing me with nutrient solutions~

I’m extremely thankful to everyone’s support for me, I will continue to work hard! ^_^

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Hehe steward working hard as a matchmaker.